It felt like a Freudian slip. Rohit Sharma probably was unaware that the mic was already turned on, as he and chief selector Ajit Agarkar settled themselves for the Champions Trophy team selection press conference on Saturday. The skipper whispered to the chief selector and his voice was recorded.
“Ab to aur ek dedh ghanta baithna padega iske baad. Secretary ke saath baithna padega thoda discuss karne ke liye. Ye sab cheez family wamily ka ye wo. Ab sab mereko bol rahe hai ki yaar… (I have to wait for another hour-and-a-half after the press conference. Need to have a discussion with the secretary. This family thing, everyone is getting back to me).”
One of the clauses in the BCCI’s 10-point diktat mentions that wives-and-girlfriends (WAGs) can be with the players for no more than 14 days on tours of 45 days or more. On shorter tours, the duration that families can accompany players is up to a week.
On the face of it, this is serving the old wine in new wineskins. The rule has been there for many years and the relaxation came during the Covid-19 pandemic, when players were allowed to make their families part of the team bubble, with an eye on mental health. It needed an embarrassing series defeat for the BCCI to resort to strict parenting.
At the same time, this is a culture shock for players. Over the last few years, they got used to having their families around on tour. That they are contacting their captain to resolve the issue suggests that Rohit still has the dressing room with him.
For the Latest Sports News: Click Here
If reports/leaks are to be believed, the Indian team dressing room is seemingly caught in a power struggle — head coach versus the captain. Another leak following the selection meeting claimed that the two didn’t agree on Shubman Gill getting vice-captaincy and Sanju Samson’s omission.
The bigger picture is that, Gautam Gambhir is apparently hell-bent on ending the star culture in Indian cricket. Rohit, who won a World Cup about six months ago, is refusing to budge. The new BCCI policy document is said to have Gambhir’s imprint, who wants to change the team culture after humiliating back-to-back Test series defeats against New Zealand and Australia. Rohit was asked about it at yesterday’s press conference and he sort of dismissed it.
“Who has told you about these rules? Has it come from the (BCCI) official handle? Let it come and we will talk,” the skipper snapped back. To put things in perspective, the policy document is meant for players. The BCCI was never going to put it out in the public domain. That this also got leaked was a different matter altogether.
In this leaky glum time, knee-jerk reactions sell. Going ahead, it needs to be seen how many of the new 10 pointers are going to be implemented in toto. Agarkar has already clarified that for the Indian team players, turning up for domestic cricket is “advisable”, not mandatory.
Rohit, meanwhile, was asked about his equation with Gambhir, and he said: “Both of us are very clear on what we wanted to do. I am not going to sit here and discuss what goes (on) behind the scenes.”
He added: “The basic talk that happens is only off the field; on the ground or maybe in the changing room. Once we take the field, it’s all about what I do on the field. That’s the kind of trust we have in each other. That’s how it should be. That’s about it.”
A few hours later, a stony-faced Gambhir landed in Kolkata, with his manager accompanying him. Forget about an embargo on the personal entourage of players and support staff in the policy document, the focus now shifts to the limited-over series against England followed by the Champions Trophy.
For India to do well at the ICC event, the coach and captain need to be on the same page.